Chandrasekhar limit

In astrophysics, maximum possible mass of a white dwarf star. The limit depends slightly on the composition of the star but is equivalent to 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. A white dwarf heavier than the Chandrasekhar limit would collapse under its own weight to form a neutron star or a black hole. The limit is named after the Indian-born US astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, who developed the theory of white dwarfs in the 1930s.